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Infection
I decided to write this story since the return of the Walking Dead and will contain scenes that may be disturbing to some readers. You have been warned =O Prologue Have you ever been sick? Have you ever escaped from the paws of cats that wanted to kill you because of something that wasn't your fault? My breath drew in short, quick breaths. My paws drummed the forest-floor, desperate to lose my pursuers. Blood seeped from my jaws, and my head pounded. My pursuers were determined to capture and kill me; but what they didn't know was that if they laid a paw on me they would die--not right then and there, but they would die. They would die slowly and painfully. But I knew that. When you were sick and your medicine cat healed you, you never thought it'd turn into something worse. But of course, you'd done been dead. My thoughts raged in my mind. It raced from my wonderful mate, to my three kits back in the ShadowClan camp. I knew I should let myself drop into the ShadowClan warriors, to have them kill me; but I feared their deadly claws and sharp teeth, I was a coward. 3... I snarled at the ravaging pain in my head, and crashed through the undergrowth. Couldn't the warriors understand I needed solitude? The deputy was yowling orders at the warriors, his dark brown tabby pelt camoflauged into the pines, so I would've been unaware of his location if I didn't have excellent senses. 2... By now, the chase was beginning to wear off, and my legs had gone numb. My pace slowed, and I spat blood from my mouth. I quickly looked about, and darted up a birch tree. I collapsed in a forked branch, hoping the warriors would lose me. But something inside me urged me to go down and surrender, and I gave in. On weak paws, I landed awkwardly on the ground. "There she is!" A warrior called. His golden pelt bristled at the sight of me. Apparently I was hideous. He looked over his shoulder to see the others, and I stood rooted to the spot, trying to breathe. I couldn't breathe. I choked on my own blood, and gave the golden warrior a deadly stare. 1... Finally my paws couldn't hold me, and I collapsed onto the pine needles. "Quick!" The golden warrior hissed. "She needs Featherwing!" He bounded into my direction. I lay on the ground, body twitching. My sight disappeared, and I was thrust into darkness. Infection complete My eyes opened, but I wasn't me anymore. I longed for my claws and teeth to rip into the warriors' skin. I wanted fresh-kill. I wanted to ''kill. With a furious growl, I lunged at the golden warrior. His expression changed to shock, but the last thing he would ever see was me. Chapter 1 '''Leopardkit's POV' The sweet aroma of fresh-kill rouse me from my light sleep. I quickly glanced around to see if any of the other kits were awake, and prodded my brother, Crowkit. "I'll be there later..." Crowkit muttered, his shiny blue eyes not even opening. "I've been stalking this mouse..." My ear twitched. I looked forward to biting down into that tasty frog, or ripping into a rat. Maybe I'd even drag a small piece of prey to practice my hunting, afterall Crowkit and I would be apprentices in less than a moon. I shook pine needles out of my dark tabby fur and bounded out of the nursery. My amber eyes blinked in the blinding sun; I wasn't aware how late I had slept in. The sun-high hunting patrol had just returned with enough prey to sustain us until sun-down, when the hunters hunted best. "Afternoon, Leopardkit," meowed a she-cat. I spun around to face the leader's den, a large tree that seemed to sprout towards the sky. It was Briarcloud, Ashstar's mate. I smiled happily, "Hi, Briarcloud," I greeted back. Fortunately, Briarcloud and I were on good terms, she could be very strict and mean. "How are you on this fine day?" Briarcloud asked politely, settling down under the shade of a bramble bush to eat a small lizard. "Good," I answered. I glanced towards the fresh-kill pile, spotting a frog--my preferred prey. My stomach immediately rumbled in hunger. "May I take a piece of fresh-kill?" "Of course!" Briarcloud meowed in surprise. "Why would you think kits would be turned down food?" I shrugged. This was the side of Briarcloud I liked--the sweet, gentle, caring side. Not the strict, mean side. I padded to the pile, and tugged the frog out. It was nothing more than a morsel, but it would do until tonight. ShadowClan never really ate during the day anyway. I picked up the scrap of frog in my jaws and took it back to Briarcloud. "So, looking forward to your apprentice ceremony?" Briarcloud asked, swallowing a mouthful. Almost as if on que, Crowkit came rushing from the nursery, his black pelt shining blue in the sunlight that streaked through the treetops. "I hope you're going to share that," He meowed, skidding to a halt beside me. I rolled my eyes and ignored him. "''I'm ''looking forward to it, but I think my brother prefers to be a kit forever." Crowkit must've been starving, because he completely ignored my remark and took a bite out of the frog's leg. Briarcloud purred in amusement. "I can see that. My kits were like that, but now they're desperately looking forward to their warrior's ceremony." Her smoky-blue eyes moved to look at Cloudpaw and Frogpaw, who were practicing their battle-tactics on each other; stalking through the tall grass that grew in the heart of camp, then leaping on the other. Cloudpaw looked just like both her parents--with Ashstar's dark gray pelt and Briarcloud's tabby stripes, and Frogpaw was almost identical to Ashstar with the exception of white-tipped ears--hence being his father's favourite kit. I shoved Crowkit over--who gave a slight snarl--and took a mouthful of the frog, then gave the rest to my greedy brother. "Have you seen Hawkthorn?" I asked Briarcloud, who was just finishing off her lizard. My father was supposed to be showing me the hunting crouch today, to prepare me for being an apprentice. Briarcloud nodded. "Yes. He went on the midnight patrol last night, he headed straight for his den this morning. He was too exhausted." She got to her paws and began to pad off towards the clump of brambles that sheltered Featherwing's den. "I'll see you kits later, I have to check up on Featherwing's patients." I glanced at Crowkit, and shivered as he crunched the frog's bones like it was no problem. "Did you eat last night?" I asked curiously, eyeing Crowkit as he quickly finished off the frog. "No, everyone took the food before I got any," He grumbled. He licked his whiskers, and then attempted to lick the frog's blood off his chin. I tried not to laugh at his attempt. "Why didn't you tell Blackrose?" Surely our mother noticed that her own son didn't get anything to eat? "It'd make me feel pathetic," Crowkit mewed. He shuffled his paws in the earth and his tail lashed. "Lizardpaw and Flamepaw always take me food." "Well that explains why you're so thin," I said. "Just tell Blackrose, she'll tell Sunfire. He'll deal with his sons then, hopefully." I whisked my tail and headed off to the nursery, deciding to nap until my father woke up. Chapter 2